Hi Everyone My sister in law is having difficulties with her builder. They are near the end of their build, the trades refuse to come back onto site, and the builder has 95% of the progress payments. They've started paying some of the contractors to come back on site to finish the build with the ver...

Thanks very much for the information Yak_Chat I understand what you mean and I probably wasn't too clear in my first post :oops: We have looked at all of the options you mention (shading, eaves, thermal properties of walls and floors, venting, windows etc) to make the house as sustainable as possibl...

How does hydronic heating and cooling work? Well imagine this - a hot water bottle - makes you hot - why - the hot water heats the rubber bottle and the air around it - so you get hot. If you put cold water into that bottle - what does it do? It makes you cooler. re my first post. I just think that...

Hi Yak_Chat No offence taken; although I'm not really sure what you mean :?

Our builder has completed the working drawings for our new house (monstrous time waster that it is) and we are just about to commence with the engineering. Hopefully the slab will be poured soon after. In the meantime we have to decide on the cooling/heating systems for the house. We have FINALLY re...

Ideally we prefer separate areas for kids and adults. Our new house has the adult areas (main bedroom, ensuite and retreat) downstairs at the front of the house, the family and kitchen areas at the rear, and kids domain is upstairs. Our daughter has her own 5.5 x 3.8 mtre bedroom, ensuite, retreat a...

Beetle, Have you considered timbercrete? No one here by you will have to live with your floor so make sure that you are really happy with it. I wonder about this new cooling system, can it claim 500% efficiency like the best reverse cycle AC units can? Is it really best to be cooling from the floor...

Thanks D&B Lets hope everyone (builder, architect, draftsman, client) continues to play nicely. :wink:

Just wondering if anyone has considered building with Zego (insulated concrete forms). Any contact details appreciated. supa007 ecoarchitect's name mentioned earlier - Energy Architecture and Yak_Chat has recommended Emilis . I haven't heard of Zego sounds interesting. Cheers

Hi Matt I agree with your wife - it might be ecofriendly but it doesn't tick all the right boxes for me either. Casa - ceramic tiles are probably ok, John kept mentioning cement so we took this on board. Cement will look better with our design - clean strong lines - no frills. Our house is probably ...

Check out this site for polished concrete floors http://www.concretenetwork.com/photo-gallery/concrete-floors_1/

Casa 600 eaves on Northern side is probably ok but John recommended none for winter sun and definitely a pergola. We might look into retractable shades or just grow a deciduous vine but we saw a great house on Grand Designs Abroad that had an open pergola that looked great and did the job. Might be ...

We put together a rough drawing based on a couple of designs that we liked, took it to a couple of builders and got the best quote (not cheapest). The builder we selected then had his draftsman draw up a concept plan and we took that to an ecoarchitect. Now we are making final changes to the plan be...

Some architects like to build monuments to themselves. Once they start running the design process and you start feeling like a bystander, it’s time to ditch the architect. They’ve stopped designing for you and are now on some sort of ego trip. You don’t want to be paying for that! I have to agree w...

Beetle, 5) I really want to find out more about your underfloor cooling system, which I understand won’t be released until November. Is there any detail available now (anything would be great)? Casa Casa I'll get back to you with the other questions as we are strapped for time today. You can contac...

casa you're making me blush :oops: No doubt the build will be a compromise between ecofriendly and cost effective but so far these are the ideas on the table. Many of them have been mentioned before on the forum: Aims: increase solar gain & capability reduce heat load on upper story increase the...

Hi Casa Yes it sounds like a similar or the same system as 'earth tubes'. Apparently the cooling unit itself costs about the same as an evap aircon. and will be formally released in Nov. Not sure if it is the same system as the one you mention but we should have more details soon. The ecoarchitect t...

Hi Casa2 The underfloor cooling system will release dry cool air from under the slab through pipes. The system won't be released until November 07 but we have been told we can install the pipes under the slab in preparation for the new system. Our builder has agreed to work with the EcoArchitect and...

Hi Casa Have to agree with Yak_Chat. We organized for an eco-architect to pass his eyes over our concept plan which was drawn up by a draftsman who works for our builder. He gave us some great ideas to increase the passive heating/cooling i.e. change window size and shape, ceiling vents, insulation,...